FLINTLOCK FOWLERS, the First Guns Made in America,

dave_person said:

Hi Feltwad,
There were plenty of gunsmiths in colonial America, which included those descending from British, Dutch, French Huguenots, and German roots. They mostly used imported parts. The British government discouraged value added industry in colonial America. We were supposed to supply Britain with raw materials, which they would turn into finished products that were sold back to the colonies. It was mercantilism pure and simple. Consequently, gunsmiths in colonial America mostly imported barrels, locks, and hardware from England and later, the German principalities, Belgium, Netherlands, and France. The earliest influences on gun makers in British America were from Britain, the Netherlands and France. However, when the Penns started colonizing their proprietary lands in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware during the early 1700s, they brought over German immigrants who not only influenced gun making but introduced rifles and rifle making. The Penns shuttled their Germans through Philadelphia and out to the frontier to create an industrious population that would act as a buffer between the more populous coastal area and the native American tribes. So in colonial America, you have a blending of British, French, Dutch, Belgian, and German gun traditions. British influence was strong near any of the big coastal towns which were centers for imports, and most imports were from England. New Englanders had considerable contact, in war and peace, with New France and gun makers there show British and French influences. Gun makers in the mid-Atlantic states often show British, Dutch, and German influences. In the south, British influence dominated the more populated coastal area but German immigrants migrated down the famous "wagon road" that connected Lancaster PA with western North Carolina, and brought their gun making influence to the southern back country. Within this melting pot of European diversity, the distinct American long rifle evolved. Ironically, there is some evidence that evolution was driven by input and demands from native Americans not European colonials.

dave

Click to expand...

dave_person said:

Hi Feltwad,
There were plenty of gunsmiths in colonial America, which included those descending from British, Dutch, French Huguenots, and German roots. They mostly used imported parts. The British government discouraged value added industry in colonial America. We were supposed to supply Britain with raw materials, which they would turn into finished products that were sold back to the colonies. It was mercantilism pure and simple. Consequently, gunsmiths in colonial America mostly imported barrels, locks, and hardware from England and later, the German principalities, Belgium, Netherlands, and France. The earliest influences on gun makers in British America were from Britain, the Netherlands and France. However, when the Penns started colonizing their proprietary lands in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware during the early 1700s, they brought over German immigrants who not only influenced gun making but introduced rifles and rifle making. The Penns shuttled their Germans through Philadelphia and out to the frontier to create an industrious population that would act as a buffer between the more populous coastal area and the native American tribes. So in colonial America, you have a blending of British, French, Dutch, Belgian, and German gun traditions. British influence was strong near any of the big coastal towns which were centers for imports, and most imports were from England. New Englanders had considerable contact, in war and peace, with New France and gun makers there show British and French influences. Gun makers in the mid-Atlantic states often show British, Dutch, and German influences. In the south, British influence dominated the more populated coastal area but German immigrants migrated down the famous "wagon road" that connected Lancaster PA with western North Carolina, and brought their gun making influence to the southern back country. Within this melting pot of European diversity, the distinct American long rifle evolved. Ironically, there is some evidence that evolution was driven by input and demands from native Americans not European colonials.

dave

Click to expand...

dave_person said:

Hi,
A trade gun was a gun simply built for commercial trade in places like North America, Africa, and India. They had many forms and styles. Many were cheaply but sturdily made and others of higher, sometimes much higher quality. The major suppliers tended to converge on a style that was familiar and popular with their customers, and we've come to think of those as the definitive "trade gun" look. There was a lot of variation, particularly during the 18th century that we tend to overlook. In English context, the term fusil is derived from the French word for gun. It is first used to designate flintlock firearms used by "fusiliers" during the 1690s, which were units whose mission was to guard artillery. The flintlocks were safer around the powder for cannons compared with the standard infantry matchlock muskets that required burning match cords. Later, it came to mean arms often carried by officers and noncoms. It is often used interchangeably with "carbine" but unlike carbine, it was not technically and formally associated with reduced bore or size. Fusils could be more or less full sized muskets carried by a sergeant or muskets issued to fusiliers (Royal Welsh fusiliers for example). An officers' fusil was simply a gun (fusil) carried by an officer. It could be privately made or purchased through ordnance and be smaller, lighter and carbine bore, but those traits are not strictly implied by "fusil". There were only 2 major designations for military long arms, muskets and carbines. Both implied size and bore.

dave

Click to expand...

spudnut said:

Where does " fuke" come in? Just a bastardized word for fusil?

Click to expand...